Building on the lyrical and emotional power of David Bowie’s “Heroes”, the animation team at Airplan Studio brings period style and plenty of drama to the title sequence for the feature doc Playing to Survive: von Cramm vs Hitler.

Donat Ertsey, Managing director/EP at Airplan: “This project (broadcast on PBS International) tells the story of German tennis player Gottfried von Cramm, whose athletic grace and personal defiance stood in stark contrast to the Nazi regime’s growing power in the 1930s.
 

“The creative challenge lay in balancing historical accuracy with emotional storytelling, weaving archival footage, tennis choreography, and abstract visual elements to evoke the duality of von Cramm’s public heroism and private turmoil.”

 
“The client brief was to craft a sequence that not only captured von Cramm’s on-court brilliance but also conveyed the tension and oppression he faced off the court — particularly his quiet defiance of Hitler and the Third Reich.

“The creative challenge lay in balancing historical accuracy with emotional storytelling, weaving archival footage, tennis choreography, and abstract visual elements to evoke the duality of von Cramm’s public heroism and private turmoil.

“Technically, we incorporated period-specific imagery and hand-crafted transitions to align with the film’s haunting tone, offering a nod to the shadows of the past that shaped von Cramm’s life. We also took special care with the pacing of the sequence to mirror the increasing stakes of von Cramm’s personal and professional struggles, resulting in a dynamic yet restrained visual experience.”
 
 

 
Client: Sidewinder Films
Director: Annette Baumeister
EP: Michael Cascio, David Thayne, Chet Thomas

Production: Airplan
EP: Donat Aron Ertsey
ECD: Benjamin Kalaszi
Head of 2D Animation: Gabor Filkor
Head of Character Animation: Adam Wator
Animation Director: Airplan
Producer: Donat Aron Ertsey
CD: Benjamin Kalaszi
Art Director: Léonard Dupond
Illustrator: Léonard Dupond, Benjamin Kalaszi
Character Designer: Benjamin Kalaszi
Cel Animator: Timea Horvath, Adam Wator, Attila Fekete, Benjamin Kalaszi, Vitez Gyurko
Clean up/Color: David Lizom, Zoltan Reindl, Vitez Gyurko
Compositing Lead: Gabor Filkor
Compositor/3D Animator: David Dell’edera
Production Coordinator: Petra Katona

Music: David Bowie “Heroes”